SAN DIEGO (AP) - Groups trying to overturn a new California law allowing transgender students to choose public school restrooms and sports teams that correspond with their expressed genders have filed a lawsuit claiming state officials are unfairly refusing to count signatures seeking a referendum.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's jobless rate dropped to 8.5 percent in November, the state Employment Development Department said Friday, continuing a positive trend after increasing temporarily over the summer.

PG&E FINED $14M OVER INCORRECT RECORDS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Pacific Gas and Electric Company has been fined with $14.35 million for failing to promptly notify state officials of incorrect records related to a Northern California natural gas pipeline.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A federal judge abruptly interrupted a weeks long hearing so that he could begin considering whether the prolonged solitary confinement of mentally ill inmates in California prisons violates their civil rights.

$8M SETTLEMENT IN ALLEGED CALIFORNIA TEACHER ABUSE: ANTIOCH (AP) - A San Francisco Bay Area school district has agreed to an $8 million settlement with the families of eight special education students in an alleged teacher abuse case.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - In a bitter fight over the effects of affirmative action, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that law school data on race, attendance and grades should be available to the public.

Articles by Section - State

RICHMOND (AP) - In December, the openly gay, white police chief of this tough, minority-dominated Northern California city held up a sign reading "#blacklivesmatter" during a protest over the deaths of two unarmed black suspects at the hands of Missouri and New York police.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco Bay Area government association is accusing its former director of financial services of embezzling $1.3 million from a fund meant for parks and other public improvements.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tens of thousands of newly released emails Friday show a former executive for the state' largest power utility routinely wining, dining and hammering out behind-the-scenes agreements on utility projects with state utility regulators.

DETROIT (AP) - The federal government is considering allowing those of Middle Eastern and North African descent to identify as such on the next 10-year census, which could give Arab-Americans and other affected groups greater political clout and access to public funding, among other things.

DENVER (AP) - Welfare money or food stamps for marijuana? It's an urban legend that won't go away in Colorado, and state lawmakers this year are poised to pass a law clarifying that public benefit cards can't be used at dispensary ATMs.

NEW YORK (AP) - Some new evidence this is a particularly bad flu season: Flu-related hospitalizations of the elderly are the highest since the government started tracking that statistic nine years ago.